The Broken Hero's Heart
by safeforestfullofbees
Summary: Three hundred summers have passed since Aedrakiin slew Alduin. Gazing through the Aether one night, he had heard a calling, that should've gone unnoticed and uninterrupted by everyone except those present. However, when he sensed the desperate cry he gazed upon the primitive world, and would have left it alone, were it not for the lost dwemer beacon that activated...M for safety
1. What happened to the dragonborn?

Ladies and pattycakes! Mortals and jellyfishes! I welcome you to my first fanficton! This is all new to me, so please be a nice little mortal and review when you see grammar mistakes, errors to the lore, an idea that could make the story more interesting, or you just have questions about certain parts of the story(Questions as to what the armor is, what the spells are, how things work, sanity corroding word and space placement, etc.).

Advice: familiarizing yourself with the Cthulhu mythos might help you understand some things better. It's also a great mythos to get into. Very interesting stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Elder Scrolls franchise or the Familiar of Zero franchise.

Every man and mer who was around at the end of aggression knew where they were when Alduin, the great devourer, was slain. The dying words and roars of him were echoed in the souls of the living, as they were spoken in the land of the dead.

It was a joyous day for all, mer and men, living and dead, mortal and immortal, daedra, aedra, and dovah(though the latter's joy was as short lived as their lives). Even the dwemer might have smiled, wherever they may have been.

The great hero, Dovahkiin, will certainly always be remembered in history for that moment, even if his other accomplishments may one day be lost to the sands of time.

But what happened to him?

Forty summers after his victory in Sovngarde, the last of the dragonborn seemed to simply disappear. Many scholars and adventurers argue to this day what happened to him, some scholars suggesting the dawnguard or brotherhood remnants had claimed his life, or an ancient dungeon proved to be too much. Nobody had claimed to know who or what killed him, even in rumors.

Some adventurers, however, claimed to have been saved by a dark green spirit clad in dragon bones, or were offered assistance by a shadowy purple figure that would cut throats of the undead, and use illusion magic to make the undead fight each other, offering healing whenever their friends were on the verge of death.

Even some ordinary lumberjacks have claimed to have been saved from bandits by an unseen archer that used a traditional bow, one which fired arrows that vanished as soon as the archer did.

Even after the legends, spells, knowledge, prosperity, and artifacts he brought in his wake, there was nothing but stories and dragon bones to ever indicate he walked Tamriel after his disappearance.

Until twenty summers later.

It is known as the Last Step. It is a door found at the end of the path of the seven thousand steps, at the top of the throat of the world. The greybeards had no knowledge of the last step ever being constructed, and neither did the dragon of the path, Paarthurnax, going so far as to claim it hadn't existed the day before.

What was found inside certainly could have explained his absence!

It is the only known place in Tamriel where, due to many blessings and complicated enchantments that Nocturnal refuses to let mortals see, space and time are distorted inside, and magicka won't function properly(though illusion spells have been reported to work from time to time, as long as it only effects the caster).

Inside the Last Step, is a long hallway of descriptions and paintings, depicting the Dragonborn's life, from his childhood study of alteration, to his interest in dwemer technology, to his vanquishing of the dark brotherhood and dawnguard , then finally to his reputation as an immortal purifier and kind guardian.

There were many tomes of knowledge within the Last Step, one of which is the reason why your clothing makes you unlikely to get sick!

In the last few paintings, It becomes extremely hard to tell what happens, but there is a featureless, gray skinned man wearing mage robes that is assumed to be the dragonborn.

How did he end up in such a way?

Was he punished by the aedra or the daedra?

Did he become a servant of a daedric prince?

Or did he ascend to aedrahood, and create that form to live in?

Nobody knows for sure, but one thing is certain: Whatever may have happened, the dragonborn is still alive, and as long as he is alive, he will keep evil forever at bay!

**You know, looking back on this, I could have done much better. I tried to make it seem like this was a tamrielic book, but I couldn't handle that style. Thing is, I know exactly what happened to him, and exactly where he is now. Hopefully I can learn to type faster in time. Took me 3 hours to write this, although I've been pregnant with this idea for 3 days, and have been refining it gradually. It's just that this idea of a Tamrielic book as an intro is less than new. Rest assured, however, that dovahkiin is as badass as you would expect a two-century year old immortal mage with access to all knowledge at his disposal to be. However, this may have cost him his humanity. :P Oh well! Please rate and review!**


	2. And his gaze focused

**Why, hello there, pizza guy! Nice of you to drop by again! Oh? You're not my pizza guy? Candy man? Tax collector? None of those? Well, picklesticks! Anywho, let's go over some things! Do you know about the Cthulhu mythos? Well, guess what? 'Dwemer' translates to [redacted for future use]! Pretty neat, huh? Well, that's enough jabbin' fun at the republicans for now. Let's move on to you, me, the down and dirty, and the seventh star wars movie.**

Disclaimer: I do not own The Elder Scrolls franchise or the Familiar of Zero franchise. I don't own the Beard of Zorro, either(though I wish I did).

Ulmaarmul Nehviir gazed out towards the stars for what seemed to be the five thousand and four hundredth seventeenth score since his stay in Apocrypha.

Mainly, because it was.

He had been offered the potential to know everything two hundred and forty winters ago, and he had taken the leap without hesitation.

He had yet to truly regret his decision.

He had acquired more power and wisdom then he could have comprehended or hoped for when he had struck that deal with Hermaeus Mora. He _understood_, truly understood Magicka, the daedra planes, the aedric planes, and even the lost Nirnly sciences the dwemer were bent on conquering.

He knew the laws that governed the planes of the realms, the voids between worlds, and what encompassed all of them. He knew what made up the fabrics of the planes, what drives mortal and immortal souls, he knew of the ways that made his destiny change, and how all of them were connected.

Whenever he learned something new, whenever he experienced a new sensation, a new feeling, he would become happy, satisfied, content, and peaceful(for a while), before his insatiable thirst for knowledge and curiosity got him asking more questions with a tranquil and ever questioning vengeance.

Hermaeus had found this behavior to be extraordinarily cute. He truly was a gift in his life, and, indeed, most of the daedra and aedra. For all of his tales of brave fights, for all of his tales of fighting through draugr hordes, and winning a drinking contest against Sanguine, there was one feat that stood above all else, a feat that rivaled the mightiest empire imaginable, something which was long believed to be impossible.

He had made the daedra and the aedra a family again.

He taught everyone the care and kindness the mortal heart was truly capable of. He pacified even the most destructive of daedra through care they had never received, and through ingenuity he made what could only normally be possible by conquering all of Tamriel, possible through more peaceful ways(though it cannot be said that anyone who was on the receiving of Molag-bal's bear hugs and noogies were to be envied, they knew it was just his way of showing affection).

Mehrunes was convinced by the aedraborn to satisfy himself to helping the morally just(by mortal standards) armies when war broke out, and to gaze upon the stars if he didn't believe destruction was happening constantly. He mostly just satisfied himself with the constant change in Tamriel, however.

Meridia accepted the undead that did not prey on the living, and . For the first time in history, Oblivion knew peace. It was awkward and shaky at first, but eventually you could see the divines eating cheese and bread with the daedric princes, cracking jokes all the while.

Ulmaarmul had grew content and happy with his new life. He had a true family, and, for the first time in his life, he felt as if he was cared about beyond killing dragons and being famed as a hero.

As if he belonged there.

He had many fond memories of his family. Hircine teaching him how to hunt in the daedra planes, Hermaeus teaching him how to find which books he wanted, Meridia praising him when he healed people and scolding him when he created thralls. It was a good life.

He remembered Hermaeus teaching him the language of "true intent". It was helpful when tracking criminals and conversing with Hermaeus. He had to practice a lot before he could speak the language to mortals without condemning another mortal to the Shivering Isles, though.

As he was sifting through his pleasant memories, he felt a disruption erupt from a planet orbiting Molag-1470.

Two hundred and seventy-three score of possibilities ran through his head before immediately being reduced to fifty eight.

He gazed closer at the planet, focusing on the source of the disruption. It felt delightfully foreign, and non-magickal in nature. His curiosity was absolutely bubbling with questions. It almost seemed like an echo, telling of despair, sadness, determination, and, as out of place as it seemed, _disdain, _for those that may hear it. It seemed as if it were a rabbit, with a perverted sense of self preservation, was calling upon a dragon, and then taunting it. The dragon would never retaliate, of course, because a rabbit is only capable of simple gestures and squeaks.

Indeed, it was foreign. But when he was just a spawn, he had always wanted to go exploring dangerous and new places.

Then he heard something from the ripples in the disturbance. He could not decipher everything from this distance, but true intent allowed him to feel that this soul wished for a daedra or atronach of some sort. A very ambitious, but ultimately stupid attempt at gaining power. Still, the soul was currently in great despair, and trying very hard to summon something very powerful, which meant….

That soul is in great danger.

Ulmaarmul donned his mortal(though still outclassing the most enchanted of daedric artifacts) armor, grabbed his staff, and opened an oblivion portal to transport him to this strange, new world. He had three instinctive, pure thoughts as he entered the portal.

" Save. Murder. Help."

He, truly, was not mortal anymore.

**I think I did halfway decent on this one. 'Halfway decent' in the same way 3 day old domino's mushroom pizza tastes 'okay', which is to say, 'It's shit, and you're a good reader, not a good writer'. To be fair, though, I'm leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions as to what happened to ol' dov. Also, this is fresh off the noggin. That means there was NO beta check, NO reviewing, NO revising, and NO editing. I will go back and edit this(sometime) later, but I'm not sure when. Anyone can feel free to adopt this baby if they really want(they could probably do it better than me), (russian accent)but I have plan for this fic. Eet gud phlan, but eye'm naut so sure I can pull off so guud.**

**So(VIET), I will list wut charoctor is like, da?**

**Enchantments: You reverse engineered daedric artifacts and dragon priest masks, and can do whatever you like with your gear. You've been around the bend for centuries, even if you weren't very bright you'd still know everything like the back of your hand.**

**Daedra-like powers: You've had centuries to study under Hermaeus Mora as his champion. Unlimited knowledge. Knowledge is power. Q.E.D., B.L.T..**

**You ain't who you used to be: Ya don't have a job, ya don't have a race, ya don't have a gender, you don't have your mortality, and you forgot all about those adopted kids ya had. WHATTSAMATTERWITHYOU?**

**Lovecraftian magic and superpowers: Optional **

**God-like gear: You had this after two years in skyrim. Then you keep getting even BETTER shit. There's no excuse not to have it/make it(besides keeping gameplay fun but if you were in the dovahkiin's shoes you wouldn't be taking any chances, would you? No.)**


	3. Update: Things to look out for

**Hail, my Antarctican brethren! We have waited hours for this… hour! And I, the Mighty Robo-Emperor of all Penguinkind, Gerald, have made a decision! I shall focus on making this fanfiction as badass as possible! The only problem I have is that, as I have flippers instead of fingers, my typing speed suffers tremendously! And thus, the pacing of this piece of work will suffer, and, more likely than not, ruin the greatness of this fic.**

**So! I shall post as often as I can, while still getting "me-time(Cough cough blogging on my channel what anime or visual novel I'm watching)", and occasionally giving ideas to potential fanfiction writers(Typing two chapters even in a day tires me out. If only I could type by thinking about (cough cough have to wait until 2064 until I get that) it. Oh well.**

**Basically, this entire thing is just me letting you all know I have my limits… despite what my profile says. I'll try to use professional writing tactics so my skills as an author improve. I used to be great at this, but as they say in Antarctica, "You either use it, or lose it".**

**Then again, I'm good at writing college papers and rambling about my extremely fragmented insomniac thoughts. Not necessarily stories.**

**Everyone reading this is probably going to know everything I have to recommend, because, come on, it's **_**familiar of zero fanfiction. **_**Though this will mainly be about the Aedraborn.**

**By the way, I'm **_**bad**___**when it comes to conversations. Not like 'kind of bad', nor like 'needs to practice a bit' bad, but try "had 13 real conversations in the last two years" bad. The only reason I even still know my language and how to use it is through my always-present verbal thoughts and reading constantly. It really shows how strong the human mind is to endure never speaking for 2 years and can still stay sane(…..)!**

**Anyways, bear with me whenever I try to make conversations between more than two people. By the way, have you ever listened to "YOU DIED" by miracleofsound whenever they read a fight scene? You get all super feel(saiyan)2 when you do those two together.**

**But, what I lack in conversations I make up for with a mind reading aedraborn(excuse for knowing everything without too much dialogue), Enemies that make dragons seem like pansies, and fights that take place beyond mortal comphrehension.**

**Oh, and by the way? I have an idea for you. Imagine Guiche singing "I kissed a girl". You know the one.**

**On that note, I bid you adieu.**


	4. upon a few unfortunate souls

**Hello, my humble pirate followers! I have returned from my slumber! We shall continue the invasion of Canada until they all stare in wonder and awe at our glorious plunder and booty, and beg to join our scalawag cause! What is our plunder, you ask? Why, it is nothing other than Sarif Industries' newest model of pencil sharpeners! They can come out of your arms, and you can sharpen them down to the MOLECULAR LEVEL. BOOM! Didn't see that one comin' did ja? … WELL YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE LOOKED AT THE BIG BOLD TEXT BEFORE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO READ IT! Jeez, you're acting like **_**I'm**_** the one at fault here!**

**We're acting just like a married couple now. A very dysfunctional one filled with me getting home late and writing stories for a few hours, but hey! I feel a little bit more attracted to your beard already. Oh. Sorry, I, uh, didn't know those were your butthairs. I mean, your butt and your face look so similar! They're both as gorgeous and handsome as the day we met(OHGAWDPLEASDONUTHURTMENOMOREBABYWHATISLOVE).**

**Alright, I'm gonna stop pretending to be your bisexual seal-spouse and get down to the skimmy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Elder Scrolls franchise, or the Familiar Of Zero franchise.**

Everyone had prepared for the worst. The students had backed up 5 meters, earth mages providing cover for the rest of the students, wind mages covering spots where shrapnel could breach through the granite, and water mages standing by to heal broken bones, tendons, and veins. They've lost enough limbs to last a decade in battle, they didn't need to regrow a lost leg again.

It wasn't always this way, though. Until Zero came along, there had never been any need to fortify the classrooms, or buy surpluses of healing reagents, or fear that a spell going awry might take your friends, or even worse, _your_ life, as one unlucky lesser noble had found out the hard way.

One rarely considered what the experience must be like from _her_ point of view. Murdering a girl by your own incompetence at a skill you both yearned to know. It should have been another harmless, if failed, spell. _**SHE **_should have died. _**SHE **_should have been torn apart from her own explosion.

But the founder had other plans in store for her, or so she had been told. She didn't believe them, so she decided to bear the burden of living up to the name she had taken from that family, to make up for what could never be replaced.

Francoise Le Blanc would live on through her name, and she would do her damnedest to make that a name of pride before she died. She was forced to divert her energies to study and proper nobility behavior, lest she fall into a depression that she could never emerge from.

Nobody knew of these motives, though, nor of the death of Francoise Le Blanc. Her family kept the whole conspiracy under heavy wraps, employed every politician they could, and expended as much resources as they had to make sure Louise Valliere was deemed innocent. That was the way of the noble, use your power to protect others, in exchange for proper respect and treatment. She possessed no power, nor was she deserving of respect.

The summoning she was attempting right now proved that.

The runes weren't glowing white like it did whenever a familiar was about to taken from the far sides of Halkeginia. Instead, a piercing sound pulsed from the center, like bone shredding through iron, like a thousand souls, nay, as if an entire world was gazing upon them, and faintly screeching at them to stop what they were doing.

When that _dreaded_ noise had stopped, another had began. This time, however, rather than being a noise that simply made everyone wish to run in terror, flee, or just _not be here, _it had been a voice in a foreign language coming from the summoning circle that few understood.

"**SK-VALR TOR'R N'ZEL-FT'H K'REVU'L M'VRUNAL DLU-KAIR'N! DAEDRA M'YLER WER'NLU'TH TREN TOR'Q**!"

Familiars of all shapes and sizes had ran behind their masters for cover.

Were they not connected to the more powerful souls of their master, they would have done what any creation that followed nature's wise, simple rules would have done. That is, to say, go away from whatever posed a threat to their survival.

Even though few had truly understood what had been said in that message, everyone who knew their ancestor's history had heard of those monsters. There were many legends that surrounded them, such as how they could be judged from their appearance, yet had forms as changing as the winds. How they were immune to magic, and yet were mightier than the strongest of warriors.

They were even said to have been the ones who had given Brimir his gift of magic, though this was heretical and absolutely ridiculous. Such a mighty gift could not have came from anything less than God.

Everyone had paled with fear when Tabitha had fell to the ground shaking, and emptying her stomach's contents. As she had continued vomiting, she, thankfully, started understanding less and less of the message, as her brain tried it's best to erase everything she had just learned, and her soul tried to block out everything her dragon was feeling and thinking.

Colbert, however, had been informed when he had took the job, that something like this may one year arrive, and thus his mind was slightly more prepared. Not that preparation helped his soul any. He had understood all of what was said. **But why?! **_**What**_** had they done to deserve an invasion?! Had God found them lacking? Did the First Souls gain enough strength to make armies again?!**

No, that couldn't be it. He needed to stay calm for his students. Besides, the First Souls' war was to save Halkeginia from the Cold. It was only rumored that they would have devoured everyone had they won.

Louise was slowly regaining awareness of her surroundings. She was standing on a brown stone floo- what? She knew she was at the academy grounds the last time she checked. She tried to stand up, but she quickly realized she already was.

"Wha- where am I?"

She had spoken those words, that she knew, yet she never heard an echo.

She took a look at the…. Where would the floor be?

As she glanced around, she noticed something. Each side of the room seemed to have all of the properties of a room, yet the angles all matched up perfectly. She knew it must be a cube of some sort, but she couldn't quite work out the shape of it. Now that she thought about it, EVERY wall of the room seemed to be a cube in and of itself, yet she was sure that was impossible. She tried to grasp and reason how such a shape could exist for ten minutes, and failed to find a way. She didn't even notice that the walls were constructed of bones and blood until she started to wonder where the door was.

When she did, the effect was immediate.

"Where am I?! Did I die! Is anyone here?"

'No. You're alive. Yes. I'm here.'

She couldn't handle hearing a voice without sound, so she shook her head around wildly, searching for a figure.

"Wh-wh-who's there?"

'Ulmaarmul Nehviir. Me. I thought we went over this.'

She felt fear grip her at hearing that name. That name seemed fitting of a destroyer, of a being that desired killing, of a monster that… she wasn't sensing any hostile intentions from.

She felt slightly irritated that someone would speak so disdainfully towards nobility, but she wasn't stupid. Whoever this was, and wherever this was, felt as if it infused with magic down to the core, so it was safe to say this person brought her here for a reason.

'I'm assuming you have questions?'

Seeing no reason to fear for her life quite as much, Louise grudgingly obliged.

She still wanted to run, but there were no doors.

**Have any of you guys played the new deadpool game? It's more scripted than a call of duty game(okay, I take that back. Comparing call of duty to deadpool would be unfair to the old fish), but High Moon couldn't have done it better. It's the first (third)GOOD game I've played based on a comic book character on a current-gen console. Wait, this IS 2012, right? I mean, if not, this timeline is boned. OH WELL, no convincing NASA it's a bad idea to broadcast radio signals everywhere in space. Really, though, angry joe's review of that game **_**sucked**_**. The only bad part about that game was it was too d*mn(4****th ****chaos emerald) short!**

**I just thought of something. Why **_**was**_** your pants off at the beginning of this chapter? Creep.**

**Ah, well. Please rate and review. Reviewing especially. Really helps me out when I get to see what you gal-sirs think. Next chapter: Louise asks questions(and I answer a few you may be having)!**


	5. that were chosen

**Looking back upon my old chapters, I'm noticing a few places where I could have done better. I guess I should answer a few questions you're probably having about this new 'verse. If I can put it lightly, this universe is **_**different**_** from what you're probably expecting. If I can state one difference between this universe and a few other fanfics, this isn't quite limited to Nirn, daedra planes, aedra planes, and Halkeginia. **

**Also, the characters may be slightly different than normal. Why? Because whenever you get involved in cosmic politics, you either go mad, terribly depressed, or other such trauma(If the backstory I created last chapter was used in the original, it would've made her 15% more sympathetic. Raising her from "abusive stuck-up rude b!tch" to "slightly troubled abusive stuck-up b!tch"). Your favorite 'kiin has observed quite a few worlds, and studied their sciences and advancements. He has even saved a few from extinction when enough tragedy has happened to them. Therefore, he isn't just the "multitool magic" horse everyone may be expecting.**

**Also, while it would be cool(boring) to have a demi-god as a familiar, there just wouldn't be enough fight scenes to pour the sauce in. SO, I have an excuse(ahem, REASON) as to why he doesn't peacefully resolve everything using his invasive mind reading. He adopted a mortal(by daedra standards) form and is trying to have fun in this new world. Because, really, why else would he be there? Besides the possibility of learning what happened to the dwemer, of course. Also, I apologize for not stating what tone Louise was using, or the faces she made. I COULD just pass it off as this whole thing taking place from 'kiin's perspective and him not really noting things like that, but that's just lazy and bad. Characters I write will naturally start sucking. I'm going to edit those past chapters once this baby is posted. Promise(lie). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Elder Scrolls franchise or the Familiar Of Zero franchise.**

**Whoa. I think my sanity just started coming back for a second there. Gotta fix that.**

***Eats snickers bar***

**LET'S DO THIS YOU DAMN DIRTY JETSKIING MOLERATS! I'M GOING TO WASH YOUR WHITES WITH YOUR REDS AND BURN YOUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLLECTION! I'M GONNA PUT THE TWINKIES COMPANY OUT OF BUISNESS AND BREAK UP THE BEATLES! I'M GONNA MAKE A TYPE OF MUSIC EVEN **_**WORSE**_** THAN RAP! IT'S GONNA SOUND LIKE OPTIMUS PRIME HAVING CONSTIPATION ISSUES! I'M GONNA PROMOTE EQUAL OPPURTUNITY RASCISM! I'M GONNA MAKE EDUCATION AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE! I'M GONNA EAT THE HEAD OFF A GUMMY BEAR AND SH!T DOWN HIS NECK!**

**Better?**

**Better.**

Louise had hesitated to ask anything. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers to any of the questions running through her head. This… aura, the room possessed… it wasn't like anything she had felt before. She felt like this place was protecting her from something, but she could only guess what that could be. Something was there, though, and _was watching her_.

"What are you? And where am I?" The girl named Louise had a great number of chaotic, instinctive, unreasonable thoughts flowing through her brain. It was to be expected, though. She was no machination of the usurpers, no soul of the fading flames, and not a changed life from the plagued.

In fact, everyone he could sense here didn't have even have anything on par with a grand soul. It was strange. Every intelligent creature had grand souls, but these… _things _didn't. As if they were only slightly smarter, if more attuned with their magicka, animals. Which is always true of dominant animals, but still. It was _very_ off-putting.

Yet again that raspy and muffled voice entered her head. It sounded, terrifyingly, slightly more like her own voice now. 'I am an old soul, putting it simply. And you are at the Tristain academy of magic right now.'

She found this very hard to believe, but the words had a type of honesty she couldn't deny. What was going on? Did she get knocked out by her explosion? Was she dreaming right now? No, dreams were an experience. You woke up whenever you knew what was happening was impossible. But she knew, whatever was happening right now couldn't have been some imagination created from the inner parts of her mind. No, it must be something else. It would do her good to try and find out what this whole… experience was about.

"Well, sir Ulmaarmul," Shivers went down her spine at remembering how he had said the name, "could you tell me more about why I'm here? Or… why you're here?" Whatever this thing was, it seemed intelligent enough to reason with, and not _quite_ evil enough to want to tear out her throat. Which was good, because otherwise she would have urinated and screamed for help. Which _wasn't_ what a noble did, no matter what. That was the rule of steel, and that rule topped all others, with few exceptions.

'I thought you would never ask. You are aware of the summoning circle, correct? The one you used to lure me here?' The voice sounded slightly aggravated when it had used the word 'lure'. Mild as it might have been, she felt a gut-twisting feeling in her stomach that she was going to die then and there, before that immediately was washed away in a wave of curiosity and, dare she say it, happiness.

"I summoned you? Wow! I don't know what you are, but I'm proud to have such a powerful… soul! As a familiar!" She had never felt so proud in her life, and he knew it. He must have been getting sloppy in the subtly he used in his illusion spells if she could tell he was that strong. It wouldn't be nice to bring her dreams crushing down on her just because he got sloppy. However, unless her mind was self-deluding…

'In a way, yes, you did summon me. And, yes, I would not mind protecting you and the rest of the spawn in your world. However, I wish to make one thing clear. I am your greater, mortal, and I expect to be treated as such.'

If he listened closely, he could've heard the exact moment her pride deflated and her anger had consumed her, apparently not hearing the word 'mortal' used in his speech.

"H-HOW DARE YOU SPEAK LIKE THAT TO A NOBLE, YOU-" Her words were filled with a confidence she didn't have, dreading the effects of what would happen to her when she realized what she was doing halfway through. She quieted down and started apologizing "I'm sorry! I didn't realize what I was doing until I was halfway finished! I'm sorry, I'm so-"

'It's alright. There's no need to apologize, little one. I just ask that you respect me, and treat me like you would a saint, or how you would a Rhyme dragon. With respect. You summoned me, but I could leave anytime I wished. In fact, unless you agree to my contract, you can be certain I'll just study the ruins here left by the deep ones and be on my merry way.'

Wait a minute. Her familiar was going to bind _her_ with a contract? What kind of dark sorcery was this?

The voice replied in a fragmented, rasping voice. 'No, no, child! That's not a contract! That's a Kyne rune! A contract is a mutual agreement between two souls that wish to work together. No magic involved, only the good will and agreement of two parties. That being said, you may want to read what the contract's contents are.'

Louise was very curious about this new form of contract. No magical involvement? And it still allowed her to get a familiar? Maybe she could forgive this strange soul for threatening to leave her and calling her out on her short stature. Twice. Not to mention severely damaging her pride as a noble. Then again, he seemed to know a bit about runes, so perhaps he was an old and powerful mage…

That name, though…

"Alright. What is this contract like, then?"

A fragmented, distorted cloud of hissing blue fire and smooth, solid rays of green had appeared in front of her, before imploding into a purple and black sphere that slowly faded away, revealing a scroll that unraveled itself nonchalantly, exposing the contract for her eyes to see.

_**THE_AGREEMENT_OF_LOUISE_VALLIERE**_

_**By signing this contract, I, Louise Valliere, agree to recognize my familiar as a self-aware and intelligent being, and as such, I will respect his rights, and respect him, as a noble. I, therefore, cannot accept responsibility for his actions, and I shall respect his decision if he wishes to disobey an order. Likewise, I, Ulmaarmul Nehviir, will agree to respect my summoner, Louise Valliere, as a noble, and I shall serve her whenever I agree with an order, and I shall swear to keep her soul safe from all of those who would kill her. I shall offer my assistance in times of great need and despair, and provide warning when danger draws near.**_

_**By signing below, you agree to the terms listed above.**_

_**X_ X_**__**Ulmaarmul_Nehviir_**_

She had stared at the scroll for fifteen seconds before breaking into a cold sweat. This was exactly the format of contracts used between the rhyme dragons and the first humans that walked Gallia! And didn't he say he wished to be treated like a rhyme dragon? So she summoned an extinct species of dragon? A dragon that could use absurdly powerful magic? This… usually didn't end well for the human that agreed to their contracts. Still, the contract didn't really say anything ominous, nor did she summon him in a quest for power. Perhaps it was banished somewhere and wanted to go back to his homeland.

'To be honest, I've just been bored for the past six months, and this place caught my interest.'

Well, that was awfully blunt and unsophisticated.

Wait. That sounded like a response. But she didn't say anything to him…

"You can hear my thoughts?!" Louise shrieked. If that was true then she would shrivel up and die in shame. A noble that couldn't use magic, a noble who took the life of another noble, and not to mention her… not going to think about it. The princess of Tristain should not be thought of in such a way. It is dishonorable to the highest degree.

The voice spoke again, even more similar to her own voice. 'Yes, mortal, I can hear them. I know of your secrets, but rest assured, until the time comes where you wish to tell them, not a single soul will know besides you. And your disability to control magic may be useful to you in the future, if you choose to allow it to be. But this is not what I wish to discuss right now. I can assure you I have no malicious intentions, but if you find these conditions unappealing, I shall not hesitate a moment to leave you without a familiar to call your own if you don't sign my contract.'

These words had no audible ill will or contempt for her. The dragon just appeared to be letting her know what would happen if she disagreed with this dragon soul.

It really frustrated her that she was so powerless compared to her own not-quite familiar, but that stood small compared to the fear that had been writhing at the corner of her mind since she found herself in this dark, impossible room made out of bones and dried blood.

"Very well, dragon. I accept these terms. Do you have a feather and some ink?" She couldn't write very well if there was nothing to write with.

'Unfortunately, I don't. But there is something you can write with in the corner to the bottom left of you.'

She looked to the left, where a room connected the other six through its corners. She couldn't tell which corner was bottom left of her, but there was a blue glow in one of the places where geometry failed to work logically. She walked, carefully, over to the glow. When she was halfway there, a dark, purple mist started creeping in slowly through the dried blood and steaming in through the gelatinous green… sea-vines that she thought was only for decoration.

She had no idea what was going on, but it probably wasn't good.

'I would hurry on over to that blue thing, if I was you.'

She didn't need to be told that, but she quickened her pace anyways. Her breathing was becoming more labored, her heart felt like it was slowing down, and her spine felt like it was fighting against fishing line. This whole experience was terrifying her and, for the first time, she truly feared death. She felt her very being slowly swirling away from her. She had reached the glowing blue thing, which appeared to be a very sharpened and thin bone of some sort, with thorns akin to a rose, but placed so that anyone could grab it without having them dig into their hand. It felt extremely lightweight and strong in her hand. Despite her very weary and weakened state, she had enough wit about her to ask a question.

"What do I do with this?" Louise had questioned, with a tone matching those of a rabbit's eyes when it had collapsed from running too much, and found its predator striding towards it casually.

'Go back to the contract with that in hand, and I'll tell you.' It had simply stated. He wished to know how much of this primitive form of magicka she, in practical terms, had, and this was a great way to test her limits, with the added bonus of getting a new type of common-level soul to eat if he was wrong about her. Which he had a 30% chance of, he estimated.

She had hurried back to the scroll as fast as her heavy and numb feet could take her. Her legs gave out a few meters away from her intended target. She would have to crawl the rest of the way there.

Damn, she knew biting her nails to stubs wouldn't have helped her summoning any.

Pushing onwards, she reached out with extended fingers and a tightly clenched fist, which drew blood into the bone she was grasping. Her body was growing ever heavier, her heart beating slower, and her lungs only worked because she forced them to, something which she had never done before. The pain she was experiencing was numb, only a stinging that was constant whenever she touched the floor or moved her hands. The muscle tendons in her left hand was nearly shredded, but like everything else, that was more unresponsive and cold than it should have been.

Before long, she had reached the contract.

"Wh…what should… *heav- GACK - KUH-HUH- KRIIP RO- sprit" She wasn't able to finish the sentence, her lungs were ruptured and bleeding from having so much of her Magicka drained, which, Ulmaarmul had noted, regenerated very slowly, and seemed to be a necessary part of these types of humans' biology. Strange, that nobody knew that.

'Would you kindly use the bone and your blood like you would a feather and ink, and sign your name on the blank line?'

She had few thoughts running through her head at that moment, but she understood that if she didn't write her name, she would die. The bone was already covered in blood from her trek, so the only thing left to do was sign her name. How had this summoning take a turn for the worse so quickly? Why did this soul want her dead? What was she dealing with? For all of these questions, she found few answers.

So she simply took the needle, and wrote her name with her last few breaths.

In her last moments before death she heard a voice speaking to her.

'I'll let you go back to your original body, now. Congratulations on your new familiar, Louise.'

p%#*FB325enm

Besides that _horrendous_ noise, a warning of Daedra, and Tabitha losing her massive lunch(nobody knew how such a small girl could fit all of that food in her stomach), everything seemed to be going along as predicted for Zero's summoning. The summoning had failed, and an explosion of black ash and soot had caked the barriers of earth, and thick grey smoke had covered the area around the summoning circle.

Now, most mortals are stupid, can we agree? Well, their spawns are even dumber.

Regardless of the fact that they had heard the word "Daedra" just a few seconds before the summoning had taken place, they had assumed she failed regardless.

Before the smoke had cleared, jeers, taunts, and unkind words were slung towards their residential failure of a noble, Louise.

"Just like old times, eh, Zero?"

"You've improved quite a bit, Zero! I think there was more ash in that explosion!"

"Can't even summon a proper familiar right! You truly are worthy of your name, Zero!"

There were many more barbed words spoken, but Louise cared not of their taunts and insults, and simply waited patiently for the smoke to disappear. She knew she had summoned one of, if not _the _best familiar here. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She was afraid, sure, and she just had a near-death experience, sure, but the harder you worked for something, the greater it ended up being. She had a feeling that the nightmare she was just put through was a test, and she had passed with flying colors. That, and she was _very _curious about what her familiar looked like.

A crackling sound erupting from within the cloud of ash had rendered the rest of the students silent. The ash started to spin and rise, expanding outwards into a cyclone formation. The sounds of fast winds was heard by all, ripping through the opposing air that tried to flow normally in its pathway. Gradually, the cyclone of ashes started illuminating themselves, a slow spread of glowing violet infecting the pieces of charred grass and burnt dust, giving it a terrifying, beautiful aura. A few moments later, after all of the ashes and remains had turned that ghastly shade of amethyst, they had burned up in a bright green wall of fire, razing the ground to a smooth ebony floor, and leaving nothing obstructing their view of the figure standing in the middle of the summoning circle.

In the middle of the now-lifeless ground, there stood a tall figure, clothed in a most unusual fashion. It appeared to be a grand cloak fit for an emperor, but yet, it lacked any of the prestige and class associated with nobility, nor did it touch the floor. It was worn and tattered, yet without any stains to indicate he'd worked as a commoner. There was no dirt or dried mud to indicate he had traversed anywhere, nor was there any blood to indicate he had seen battle. The robe concealed his hands and head masterfully, yet surely he had no intention of hiding his identity, seeing as his robes were a decaying-dandelion yellow, something which would definitely attract attention wherever he went.

The hooded familiar turned its head towards his new master, snapping everyone out of their trance of this man in a strange robe. The gaze of the hooded man never faltered or looked away, or if it did, there was no way to tell. This set off a few warning signs in professor Colbert's head, making him ever-more convinced that this was, indeed, a daedra lord. He spoke up, making sure to carefully word his sentence in a way that would not anger this daedra.

"Miss Valliere, would you please complete the summoning ritual? The contract needs to be completed soon." He had tried to make the wording sound as daedric as possible without alarming his students. He knew he could take on this monster if he wished, but there were students around, and no reason to start a mass panic or inquisition yet.

"Oh, r-right away, professor!" She turned back to the cloaked man and, almost as if they were communicating the entire time, the man in the yellow robe _nodded_, yet… there were no words spoken. The mind knows the difference between strange and dangerous, yet that did little to help the chills going down the spines of the students and the whimpering of the mammalian and intelligent familiars.

Louise had tried drawing a breath, but the air seemed thinner than usual, so it was more difficult than it should have been. She gathered all of her energy into her voice, which seemed to work. She raised her wand

"Pentagon of the five elemental powers!-"

If anyone was paying attention, they would have noticed the clouds becoming a slight shade grayer. But nobody in the academy was paying attention to the clouds.

"Grant your blessings upon this familiar!-"

If anyone had been a conjurer, they would have felt the raw, primal power of the hundreds of human souls that resided within the clothing. But nobody here knew conjuration magic.

"And bind it as my own!"

She had lowered her wand, and the hooded figure bowed down. She pushed back the hood which, she noted, felt like cold rust and smooth cobwebs. She pushed it back until she saw the mask. It was beautiful, but it felt terrifying. It was as if you took a child's doll and casted its face with the purest porcelain, but the doll's face was crafted specifically to hold all the features of a human skull. She couldn't quite understand how the mask was made, but the voice told her she shouldn't think about it too hard, which was probably for the best.

She gathered her will and strength, and, resisting the urge to scream, kissed the burning(cold?) skull, completing the contract. Nearly instantly, a rune had appeared on the back of the yellow robes this man wore. It was blurry and fuzzy, and looking at it too long gave the old professor a headache, who instinctively turned away from it. He knew he would have to study the runes, but _dear brimir _he didn't want to.

**CCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKK! **Pit. Pat. Plitplatplit-

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to. Unfortunately, it was raining.

"Everyone! Class shall be dismissed for the rest of the day! Please head to your dorms immediately!"

Mumbles and ramblings of disappointment, frustration, worry, confusion, annoyance, and poorly disguised fright went through the crowd as they stalked back to their dorms. There were two people still standing back at the glassed ground. Louise gazed at the hooded figure again. There was just something not right about that… familiar. She felt like she was too…calm, around this robed man. She should've had a mental breakdown about three times today, but she hadn't. It wasn't entirely unwelcome, but…

'If you have questions, I'll answer them later.'

She nodded. As dreading as she was of these answers, at least her uncertainties would be put to rest. After all, the idea of a corpse being her familiar just didn't match up with everything she had experienced so far. Her head was reeling at the possibilities of what her familiar could be.

She started striding towards the void tower, where her dorm awaited, familiar grazing the ground behind her as he followed.

_How amusing, to think that this scene is so similar to the night she died by her own hands. She was so depressed then. Now she's all full of hope. The weather has a sweet sense of irony here. I like it._

**IIIIIIIIIII'MMMMMM BBBBBBAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!**

**Guess who's back? Back again? I'm back. Tell a friend. And your pets, if you have any. Just not the milk-men or the cops. So, you've probably been wondering what I've been doing besides chewing ass and debating(which I am a master at*), and so I'll tell you what I HAVEN'T been doing. I ****haven't**** been hardshipping touhou characters, I wasn't looking for inspiration for my character, I wasn't punching babies in the face and giving their mothers coupons for diapers, I wasn't exporting illegal copies of hot and steamy koala on stormtrooper jetpack wrestling action, and I most certainly wasn't drugging my milkshakes with aphrodisiacs. **

**So I was checking out this anime, called Nyarko-san(CthuNyark and MaHasta OTP), right? So I got to thinking, 'hey, this yellow shota, what's he based on?'. Well, chicken-tenders, let me tell you something. He's the king in yellow. GUESS WHO'S COMIN TO TOWN(Or the inspiration of, at least)! **

**You know how in dawn of war, there's the SPHESS MAHREENS? It sounds similar to the spice marines. Spice girls. But marines. They'll tell you what they want, what they really-skip-**

**I WANNA, I WANNA ZIG-A-ZIG-EMPRAAAAHHH!**

Btw, If you're confused by the italics at the end, it's not reminiscing. He experiences time non-linearly. Yeah. When I said not human, I flanking MEANT it.

***That was a fishing joke, guys. Master-baiting**.**

***That, however, was a masturbating joke*.**

***EVERYBODY'S A PERVERT ON THE INTERNET, MWEHEHEHEHE! **

***Did you know there's an anime about FISHING?! AND IT'S GREAT? It even has decent yaoi subtext between the characters! But anyways, since you took the time to read this, I want to thank you all for reading this, and for waiting for the time between updates. It really does mean a lot to men(KEEPING THAT TYPO ERROR), though I can't really express my happiness and thanks through the interturtles. I have, in fact, been reading my reviews, and though criticism is in short supply(which is frustrating, but I'll try to improve), I'm glad to finally give something back to the internet I've loved for the past 7(Whoops, been longer than that since 2003!)-past decade, and to finally be a part of the community I've watched with pride in my tentacles. You all rock. Gimme kisses.**


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